The next day started as if someone hadn't just been murdered. The smell of Makaira's breakfast cakes filled the inn alongside the mumbled sounds of patrons coming from the crowded dining room. Ryoku felt a morning chill on his face and resisted getting out from under the warm blanket.
A loud laugh echoed up the stairs and into his room. He wanted to head down and join them. The Inn's great fireplace always felt amazing on chilly mornings such as this one. There were very few days without the morning training regime Blade Master Horbus expected them all to attend. Ryoku loved spending them filling his stomach with Makaira's cooking and listening to the tales being swapped over cups of hot brews being served. It felt like he could sample a different one every morning and not circle back though he quite favored one of the stronger varieties brewed across the mountains to the south-east.
It just didn't feel right for him to enjoy these things when he had denied such to Sato forever. The noise from downstairs faded and the chill left his face as the morning dragged on. Am I going to starve myself in punishment for my crime? Ryoku played with the thought several ways before deciding it really wasn't a suitable decision. He certainly intended to keep living no matter how he came to feel about last night.
Against his body's protests, he flung the blanket off and swung his feet out onto the wooden floorboards. He sat on the edge of his bed rubbing his eyes when a knock came against his door.
"Who is it?" he groaned out in a raspy morning voice clearly in need of some water.
"It's Torga. Makaira asked me to come up here and make sure you were out of bed. There's a lady downstairs whose been waiting for you the better part of the morning." Torga was one of the village teens Makaira hired to help with the morning rush. Ryoku didn't know her particularly well as she'd only been working here a few months.
His mood plummeted as he considered talking with anyone in his current mood. Especially some new person he knew nothing about. "Tell her I'll be down in a bit."
Ryoku pushed himself up from the bed and walked over to the door. Makaira often went around placing pots of heated water outside the guest doors in the cold season. One of the many things she did that made her inn so popular among the travelers and locals of the area. Many considered it well worth the extra morning trek to get into the town proper. He opened the door and, sure enough, there was a pot with water in it. He picked it up and brought it inside.
The water was not that warm anymore, on account of his sleeping in so late, but it was still warmer than the cool water he would find outside. He slide his hands into the pot and started rubbing the water over his face and arms. When he was done, he did it again. And then again. As if he was trying to wash last night off him for good.
His stomach was growling quite a bit at this point and the smell of fresh baked bread and boiled stew was not helping the matter. These signaled the mid-day meal at the inn and it was just another reminder of how far off normal he was this morning. He wiped himself down as best he could before he put on his tunic and headed downstairs.
The normal revelry in the inn died down quite a bit in the afternoon. The wooden stairs let out their familiar creak as he walked down into the main dining area of the inn. Makaira held a broom in hand going over the mess left by her customers this morning. The sounds of wooden plates and cups clanking together filled the air as waitresses gathered and cleaned them for the evening crowd.
A woman sat at the bar drinking out of one of the cups normally used to serve teas. She wore a traditional Deel robe, colored in a bright teal color. Her black hair was braided all the way down to the middle of her back.
He sat at the bar near her but left the corner bend of the massive wooden tabletop between them. She watched as he sat down. He was immensely grateful for the fact she did not begin talking to him right away.
YOU ARE READING
The Magician's Prince
FantasyRyoku Nagami was one of many young children trying to grow up on the oppressive Iron Pier. One fateful day Ryoku loses a stick fight against an older boy who was trying to prove something. An onlooker, the mysterious Magician, sees the fight and is...